Chapter 19
JOSIE
Daddy and Uncle Axel are waiting for us downstairs when we finally wake from our blanket-fort sleepover. Lanie goes running into her Daddy’s arms with a happy squeal and he swings her around as her giggles pepper the air.
“Morning, my little lovebug,” Daddy says as he scoops me up and settles me on his hip. “Did you have fun with your Auntie Gray?”
“Uh-huh. We watched The Princess Bride and ate all the goodies Uncle Eli made for us.”
Daddy and Uncle Axel both turn toward a smirking Auntie Gray. “What? It was a sleepover. And besides, Eli’s the one who made the snacks.”
Though it’s clear he’s trying not to smile, Uncle Axel shakes his head. “Fine, but when they’re both acting like spoiled brats because Auntie Gray lets them do whatever they want, you can deal with them.”
“You leave Auntie Gray alone!” Lanie’s face scrunches up in a glower. “She’s the best auntie in the whole world.”
“Yeah!” I chime in, adding my own glare to the mix. “Leave her alone!”
“Of course you think she’s the best after she let you stay up late and eat too much junk food,” Daddy teases, drilling his finger into my tummy and making me squeal with laughter.
Uncle Eli emerges from the kitchen, wiping his hands on his “Kiss the Cook” apron, one dark bushy brow raised. “What’s all the fuss out here?”
“Oh good, you’re here.” Waving a hand, Auntie Gray breezes past him toward the kitchen. “Now they can fuss at you about all the sugar their Little girls had last night.”
Not looking the least bit repentant, Uncle Eli shrugs. “It was a sleepover.”
Daddy and Uncle Axel continue to grumble as we follow Uncle Eli back into the kitchen. The smell of bacon fills the air, and Lanie lets out another happy squeal when she spots the bowl of pancake batter beside the stove.
“Best. Sleepover. Ever.”
I can’t really argue with that sentiment. It’s at least the best sleepover I’ve had in two decades, which isn’t really saying much since it’s the only sleepover I've had since I lost Gracie, but I try not to dwell on that.
Our Daddies buckle us into our highchairs at the smaller kitchen table, probably because the other uncles are already at work.
Or doing… whatever it is they do all day.
Now that I think about it, I’m not really sure what everyone does around here.
I know they run some kind of logging empire or something, but I have no clue what their roles are.
As far as I can tell, Uncle Axel’s main job is keeping Lanie out of trouble—or, as is more often the case, spanking her butt when he fails to do so.
Breakfast is delicious, as always, and I’m almost getting used to being fed like a baby since it happens at almost every meal. It's still odd, but it’s probably one of my favorite parts of being Daddy’s baby.
As we’re finishing up, Auntie Gray pours herself a third cup of coffee and looks over at Uncle Axel. “Don’t forget it’s almost the end of the month, Ax, so we need to take a new delivery of wood over to Widow Rollins.”
Her words tickle something in my brain, something I somehow haven’t thought about even once since my kidnapping and panic wraps around my chest like a vice. “Wait. The end of the month? No. That can’t be right!”
“Hey.” Reaching over, Daddy runs a hand over my hair. “What’s wrong, bug?”
“What’s wrong is the whole reason I came to freaking Colorado in the first place was to finish this stupid book and now I’m going to miss my deadline!”
A frown tugs at Daddy’s lips. “I’m sure your publisher will understand if you need to push the deadline a bit.”
Temper sparks in my chest. “That’s not the point! I have a career! I have fans who depend on me! I can’t just give all that up to play Daddy’s Little girl!”
His frown deepens. “Nobody is saying you have to give anything up, Josie. But we never really accounted for any of our Little ones having a career. It’s something we’re going to have to figure out, but it’s going to take us a little bit of time.”
“I don’t have time, Bram. What I do have, is a publisher waiting on my next book and thousands of fans who will be devastated if that book isn’t delivered on time. So figure it out, and figure it out fast, or I’ll figure it out for you.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know I’ve gone too far. Daddy’s eyes narrow and he shoves at the rolled-up sleeves of his flannel as he leans forward to unbuckle the belt holding me in the highchair. “That’s enough, little girl.”
Before I can apologize, I’m over his lap with my nightgown flipped up over my back and Daddy’s palm smacking down hard and fast on my upper thighs.
Those swats sting even more than being spanked on my bottom, and the pain pulls a series of distressed noises from me as I kick and writhe over his knee.
“Owie, owie, Daddy, I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“What are you sorry for, Josephine?” he asks without so much as pausing his assault on my thighs.
Fuck. What am I sorry for?
It takes far too long for my brain to engage, and the swats fall even faster and harder in response.
“I’m sorry for being rude!” I manage to screech, and to my blessed relief, the spanking stops. I’m immediately set on my feet, with my stern-faced Daddy glaring down at me.
“I understand you’re frustrated, Josie, but that’s no excuse to be rude.
Now, you are going to go find a game or something to play with Lanie while I go talk to your Uncle Colt.
If you are not in the living room when I come looking for you, I’m going to do worse than give you a couple swats on the thighs when I find you. Am I understood?”
A couple swats? Try a couple dozen. But with my skin still burning and tears still in my eyes, I’m smart enough not to say that out loud. “Yes, Daddy,” I say instead, adding a pitiful little sniffle that will hopefully put me back in his good graces.
“Good girl.” His arms slide around me, pulling me to him as he dips his head to capture my lips with his. “If you’re a good little bug the rest of the morning, maybe I can talk your Uncle Axel into all of us taking a trip into town for some ice cream. How does that sound?”
Surprisingly, the offer of ice cream does help to ease some of the sting of my punishment. Perhaps because, deep down, I really am still a Little girl on some level.
“Okay, Daddy!”
He gives me another kiss before nudging me toward the living room. “Stay out of trouble. I’ll come find you as soon as I’m done talking to Uncle Colt.”
“Daddy?” I ask as he rises from his chair.
“Yes, little bug?”
“This is really, really important to me.”
A smile curves his lips, and some of the jumping nerves in my tummy finally settle. “I know it is, baby. Don’t worry. Daddy will take care of everything.”
As I watch him leave, I realize I might actually believe him.
Bram
Shaking out the sting from my hand, I make my way down the hall to Colt’s office and knock. There’s a pause, and then my brother’s overly dramatic voice.
“You may enter.”
I roll my eyes as I push the door open. “Have you forgotten I’m supposed to be the nerdy one?”
Leaning back in his chair, Colt grins. “Wouldn’t be the first time we switched lives for a bit. In fact, I’ve always wondered about Josie…”
Jealousy claws at my chest, a snarling beast intent on ripping itself free and tearing my brother to shreds. “Absolutely the fuck not.”
“Aw, come on, Bram. She’d never even know.”
“She would. Josie would know me anywhere.”
Colt sighs, but there’s no real emotion behind it, and the realization he’s putting me on helps to calm the beast inside me. “You’re probably right. Still, can’t blame a guy for trying. Anyway,” he continues before I can snarl at him again, “that’s not what you came to talk to me about. What’s up?”
Dropping into one of the plush visitor’s chairs opposite Colt’s desk, I sigh and run a hand through my hair. “Josie wants to get back to work. Apparently she has a book with a deadline coming up fast.”
Still leaned back in his chair, Colt frowns, his fingers tapping at the wood of his desk the way they do when he’s working through a particularly thorny problem. “What does she need?”
“Her laptop, I assume, which we have stashed away somewhere. I remember someone grabbing it when we cleaned out her cabin.”
“Right. Internet access?”
Unease ripples through my stomach. “Is that something we can risk giving her?”
“Maybe. Let me talk to Gunther, see what kind of magic he can work. Ideally, we’d be able to lock down everything that’s not her email, and set up some kind of safeguard so we have to approve all her emails before they actually send. I’m not sure if that’s actually possible, but Gunther will know.”
“Perfect. How long do you think that will take?”
Colt lets out a snort of laughter. “Knowing Gunther, he can be here in about thirty minutes and have it all set up in ten. Why don’t you take the girls into town, let them run off some of the cabin fever they both clearly have, and by the time you guys get back we should have some kind of plan in place. ”
“Thanks, Colt.”
A wide grin stretches across his face. “You can thank me by bringing home one of those pies from Thelma’s.”
“Blackberry or chocolate?”
“Yes.”
Laughing, I rise from my chair. “Done. We’ll be back in a couple hours.”
Trusting my brother to handle the logistics of getting my babygirl back to work, I rise and leave his office to get my Little girl ready for her trip into town. I find Axel first, and after getting his rather enthusiastic agreement to take the girls for ice cream, I head for the living room.
And stop dead in my tracks.
The girls are there, where I expected to find them, but so is Ford. He’s seated in the middle of the couch, with one Little girl on either side of him as he reads animatedly from one of the children’s books I keep stocked in the living room.
Everything inside me warms at the sight.
Of all the siblings, Ford has the softest heart, and he fought the hardest against us keeping Lanie here against her will.
Seeing him like this, laughing and making silly faces and voices while our Little ones giggle and cheer him on is such a perfect moment I want to capture it forever.
Reaching into my pocket, I pull my phone free and snap a picture of them before stepping fully into the room.
Ford looks up first, ever alert, just like the rest of us, and not for the first time I’m hit with that wave of sadness over the childhood that was ripped from my youngest siblings. But I force a smile not just for the Little ones’ sakes, but his as well.
“We’re going to take the girls into town for some ice cream. Come with?”
At the mention of ice cream, a brilliant smile splits my brother’s face and the Littles let out a loud happy cheer. “That sounds great. Are the others coming?”
“Colt has work, but I was going to see who else wanted to come.”
“Dane’s outside chopping some wood and I think Gray is in her office. I’ll round them up if you want to get Eli.”
“On it.” Striding to the couch, I pluck Josie off the cushion and settle her on my hip. “Come on, bug. Let’s see if we can pry your Uncle Eli away from the stove for a couple hours.”
“What did Uncle Colt say about letting me work?” she asks as we leave the living room and head for the kitchen.
“He thinks we can probably make it work, and he’s hoping to have something set up for you by the time we get back from our ice-cream run.”
“Really?” Suspicion winds through her voice and her eyes narrow. “Just like that? You made it seem so… complicated.”
“I wasn’t sure how complicated it would be, so I didn’t want to get your hopes up.
” And I pray I’m not still setting her up for disappointment.
But Colt seemed pretty confident in his ability—or rather Gunther’s—to get Josie back to work without putting us at risk.
“Wouldn’t you rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed? ”
“I suppose…”
It’s clear from her tone she isn’t quite convinced, but that’s fine. Eventually, she’ll learn that her Daddy always has her best interests in mind, and that I’d do anything to make her life here a happy one.
Even if it’s not quite the life she always imagined.